In one of his final acts as president, George W. Bush has signed a proclamation activating the
US-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in a move that US trade officials believe will significantly
increase trade between the two nations. The US textile industry supports the agreement because it
has a yarn-forward rule of origin and does not include tariff preference levels or cumulation,
which textile manufacturers see as loopholes. It also, for the first time, includes enhanced labor
and environmental standards for trade agreements, standards to which the Bush administration and
Congress agreed to in May 2007.
In December 2007, Congress gave final approval to the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, but
President Bush held up signing a proclamation implementing the agreement until now in view of some
congressional concerns that had to be resolved.
US Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab said: “The agreement marks an important milestone in
our relationship with Peru, one of our strongest allies in Latin America. For the first time in
history, American exporters will be able to sell the vast majority of their products into the
Peruvian market duty-free.” Schwab said that when the agreement enters force, 80 percent of US
industrial and consumer goods and more than two-thirds of current US farm exports will be
duty-free.
With the signing of the Peru agreement, the United States now has 11 FTAs with nations in
North and South America, Central America, Africa, the Far East, the Middle East and Australia.
January 20, 2009
